A PLETHORA OF PALACES.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3905, 25 January 1884, Page 4

A PLETHORA OF PALACES.

All the Queen's children resident in England aro in tho cnvitablo position of living rent free, wave the Duke ot ! Edinburgh, who hires his country house. Soon utter tho Princess Louise married, Lord Lorno took v house in Grosveuor Crescent, and bought Dorden, near Tunbridge Wells; but before long tho latter was sold, whilst ho and his wife migrated to free quarters at Kensington Palace. Prince and Princess Christian enjoy tho same in 'Windsor Park at Cumberland Lodge. Kensington Palace was bought by "William lIL, because he should die of the damp if ho lived at Whitehall. Then Whitehall way burned, and, St. James' being presumably inadequate in point of accommodation, Queen Ani'o continued after William to livo at Kensington. Buckingham Palaco was bought by Georye 111. for £28,000, as a dower house for Queen Charlotte without any idea of making the people pay, as they have done, at least £1,000,000 in tinkering it up ; but in an evil'hour Georgo IV., who had a ruiuous passion for bricks and mortar, touk to living thero. Subsequently immense sums wero spent in undoing all that he had done. It was announced at the beginning of the present reign that tho Queen did not like Kensington, and did not intend to live there. Had the place been sold, it. would have gone some way towards paying the cost of "the now Palace at Pimlioo," as Buckingham Palaco was called ; or had it beon pulled down or altered into private houses it would now have brought in a great profit. But no ; although the Queen did not need ifc, the palaco was to bo kept as an asylum for Court favourites, notwithstanding that St. James's in somo degree, and Hampton Court altogether, were already devoted to that charitable purpose; and tho hapless taxpayer was thus condemned to the maintenance of a third London palace. So we have been saddled witli the cost of palaco after palaco through the whims of individual monarchs. Kow and l?roginore were the fancy of George 111., co they are kept up, though Frogmorc is ■unoccupied, and the Queen never goes near Kow. The Pavilion at Brighton was the one place most properly sold when no longer needed. Surely Lord Lome can afford to pay for a town house! His wife has an annuity of .£6OOO a year, besides a dot of £30,000 ; ho is the eldest son of a duke who, if embarrassed when ho succeeded to the dukedom, has long had a fine income; he is childless, and for iive yours has been where ho coidd save every penny of private means. And yet a home must be found for him at the cost of the public; and palace on palace is maintained, not for tho Sovereign, but for tho Sovereign's relations and dependants. What a list it is ! St. James's, Kensington, Buckingham Palace, Marlborough House, Clarence House, in London; Hampton Court, tho Stud House there, a splendid mansion; BusheyPark; the White Lodge, Eichinund; Bagshot, Windsor Castle, Claremout, Frogmoro, Cumberland Lodge, and Holyrood House. For the maintenance of all these, their parks, gardens, kc., the taxpayer has to pay. And this is a land where tho taxpayer has to maintain 1,000,000 paupers! —Echo.